1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to appliances, most advantageously to sports accessories such as batting aids, which are customarily supported on a member or leg anchored in the ground. The appliance has a leg which is secured in the ground by occupying a ground mounted sleeve. A flexible joint located in the leg above ground enables the appliance to be pulled towards the ground temporarily, for service, disassembly, or other purposes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Sports accessories such as batting aids require considerable space, and are therefore frequently located outdoors. This location accommodates the relatively great span of tethered balls, which are frequently employed for softball batting practice, as well as for games requiring tethered balls.
Batting practice has requirements which would render many simple tethered ball arrangements unsuitable. Notably, the batter must be able to stand near a tethered ball and be able to swing his or her bat through a generally horizontal arc without interference from supporting posts of the practice device. Accordingly, most batting aids have a tethered ball, or other target, spaced horizontally from a vertical support post.
U.S. Pat No. 5,135,219, issued to Tim O. McKeon et al. on Aug. 4, 1992, is exemplary. McKeon et al. provide a vertical post which is embedded within the ground. By contrast, the present invention has two vertical posts each having a flexible joint to facilitate drawing the horizontal post downwardly in order to free a ball which has become wound thereon. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,612, issued to Robert G. Hammond on Dec. 27, 1988, a batting aid is set forth which also includes a single vertical support post.
A problem frequently encountered in tethered ball type batting aids is that the ball will occasionally cause the tether to wind around a structural post. McKeon et al. provide a second tether to prevent the ball from assuming a trajectory which would cause unintended winding at a point on the support posts which is out of easy reach. This second tether may possibly be objectionable, since it will inevitably be struck by the bat, and will entangle with the bat to a certain extent. This causes a departure from actual batting conditions. Hammond mounts his tether to a rotatable member secured to a horizontal support shaft. It would be possible for the tether to wind about this shaft in some circumstances, particularly when the plane of the struck ball is not vertical. The present invention avoids the complication of providing firstly, a rotatable member and secondly, a brace necessary for supporting the horizontal shaft.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,741, issued to Gary J. Butcher on Dec. 25, 1990, and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 312,857, issued to Isaac Montelongo on Dec. 11, 1990, batting aids having a single vertical support post are shown. Butcher's the aid is supported on a horizontal plate which rests on the ground. Montelongo's vertical post has a stake driven into the ground. Both devices lack the two vertical posts and particularly the flexible joint of the present invention.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,122, issued to Joseph A. Messina on Dec. 10, 1991, U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,646, issued to Samuel R. Levatino on Jul. 13, 1993, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,683, issued to Roger G. Beimel on Jul. 20, 1993, a central vertical support post is secured to at least one horizontal post to which the ball is attached. The vertical post is secured by several legs disposed in a horizontal plane. These devices lack the flexible joint and ground penetration of the present invention, and have one vertical post rather than two.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,506, issued to Ronald J. Cipriano et al. on Jul. 26, 1993, features a batting aid held by a second person. The subject device is not free standing, as is that of the present invention, and lacks a flexible joint and the two vertical support posts of the present invention.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.